A conventional shirring operation is shown in FIGS. 6(a-c) where a collar 5 is formed, as shown in FIG. 6(c), by placing a lining workpiece 3 over a top workpiece 2 and a back workpiece 1. These workpieces are then stitched along the margins, as shown in FIG. 6(b), forming a seam 4 on three sides. The lining workpiece 3 extends along the remaining side. The three workpieces are then turned over and up. The bent collar 5 when properly sewn has a good curved appearance if the top workpiece 2 of the collar 5 is suitably slackened.
For maintaining the good curved shape desired in the collar 5, a conventional shirring unit has heretofore been proposed, as shown in FIG. 7, which provides a shirring plate 8 that includes a stitch opening 7 in a bottom 6 of a cassette which follows the contour of the collar. Shirring plate 8 has hinges 9a and 9b on the bottom 9. Shirring plate 8 also has projections 8a and 8b at one end located inward of the first stitch opening 7. A cover 10 of the cassette is coupled by the FIGS. 9a and 9b to the bottom 6. Cover 10 is formed with a second stitch opening 11 corresponding to the first stitch opening 7, and having recesses 12a and 12b which fit over the projections 8a and 8b of the cassette bottom 6.
The conventional shirring unit as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is arranged so that a back or lower workpiece 1 is laid on a bottom 6 of the cassette, and then covered with the shirring plate 8. The top and lining workpieces 2 and 3 are then placed atop the shirring plate 8. The collar 5 which is composed of the top, back, and lining workpieces 2, 1, and 3, is clamped by the cassette cover 10. The cassette is then mounted on a profile stitcher to sew the collar along its margins with a needle 13, thereby obtaining the shirred collar.
The aforementioned cassette requires not only clamping the collar 5, which is composed of the back, top, and lining workpieces 1, 2, and 3, between the cassette bottom 6 and cover 10, but also requires setting the collar 5 to the profile stitcher. Further, the profile stitcher is required to remove the cassette therefrom after the collar 5 has been sewn and then takes out the collar 5 from between the cassette bottom 6 and cover 10. The action involves not only increased labor, but also involves many complex operations.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a loading apparatus with a shirring unit which is fabricated to shirr the collar when it is conveyed to the work holder by simply laying the collar on the setting device, thereby decreasing the manual effort of mounting the collar and thus increasing operation efficiency.